Phew!

Updated March 6, 2000 12:13 a.m. ET

T he Dow swooned upward Friday after the monthly employment survey showed joblessness climbing to 4.1% from January's 4.0%. Presumably it energizes stocks to witness job growth slowing to 43,000, instead of the 384,000 we had in January? We'll drop the sarcasm here to say things plainly. The markets are partying because they are given to thinking the weak numbers mean Chairman Greenspan mightn't raise interest rates after all. Anyway, this is behind the curve; Mr. Greenspan has lately purported that it is actually the markets' upward spiral and the "wealth effect," not jobs, that he is monitoring. Whatever....